


Hiding Something

by GrapeGodPerson



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-26
Updated: 2018-10-26
Packaged: 2019-08-07 23:16:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16417910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrapeGodPerson/pseuds/GrapeGodPerson
Summary: All the yamis are back, but not everyone knows that. Yugi has Atem living with him, Malik has to unfortunately live with Mariku, but no one knows Bakura has even returned. Or that he's been living with Ryou as some human-demon hybrid. Though it can't always be a secret.





	1. Game night

**Author's Note:**

> Damn, I was planning on writing this like last year. I barely got around to it, but I'm so glad that I did cuz I'm already loving it. Anyways it has the conspire bois, and yeah. And as you can tell from my other yugioh fic, I really like shipping a monster like Bakura with people.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson

"Well, you're late, as always."

"Sorry I had-"

"Work? It's fine." Yugi turned back to the others as Kaiba walked in, tired from a business meeting. 

"You know Kaiba, we've been inviting you to these little games nights for a couple weeks now, and I don't think you've ever been early. Or even on time for that matter." 

"Well, unlike you Wheeler, I have a job."

"Yeah," Mokuba added. "We have things to do that are more important than game nights."

Malik laughed. "Well if it's so important, than why do you bother coming here?"

Mokuba looked at his brother for an answer. They really did have no reason to be there. Well, that wasn't entirely true. "I technically don't do much in the company, Seto's the one who's busy, but I follow where he goes."

"So you can avoid being kidnapped again?" Tristan yelled for the kitchen.

"No... um, actually, that's partly true."

They all laughed, all but Kaiba, who rolled his eyes.

Atem appeared from the kitchen with Tristan. "Why do you come Kaiba? Are you still trying to beat me in a game?"

Kaiba growled. 

"I never really understood that about you." Ryou stood from his seat. "You're one of the most rich and famous people in the world, but you still find time to bitch about losing a card game. I would completely forget about that."

"Well, maybe it's easy for a dweeb like all of you to forget, but I'm the best, and I refuse to let you beat me again, and when I beat you, I'll be the new king of games!"

Atem smirked. "Good to know you haven't changed in all this time." 

Kaiba and Mokuba sat down on the couch, ready to start the game. It was Mario Kart night, and Mokuba, being the undefeated champion, wasn't about to lose his crown.

The game started, and it was Mokuba vs Joey. Clearly Joey was losing from the very start, only being 2nd to last place. And of course Mokuba was in 1st. They all watched the race, joking at how bad Joey was at rainbow road, though more than half of then were bad at that track. 

Yugi sat of the couch next to Joey, cheering him on, while Téa and Serenity sat on the floor eating popcorn. Tristan and Atem leaned against the back of the couch and Kaiba sat with Mokuba, chuckling everytime Joey messed up. Malik sat in the corner with Mariku.

Everyone was pretty uncomfortable the first time Malik brought him to the first game night. He had tried killing them, but now that he has no really power, Mariku really mellowed out, becoming more of a nuisance rather than a threat. He constantly made snarky comments but that was it.

Joey was completely against him joining their little get togethers, but no one wanted to risk leaving him home alone. So whether they liked it or not, Mariku would go with Malik practically everywhere he went. That was at least one thing Ryou was grateful that he didn't have to deal with. 

And speaking of which.

Ryou's phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out to check and saw a text. He groaned as he read the same text he always gets whenever he's out.

[B: I'm bored]

Ryou texted back.

[R: Oh well, I can't do anything about it.]

[B: Come home]

Ryou rolled his eyes. It was like taking care of a baby.

[R: No, I'm not leaving another game night. Everyone is already suspicious after the last 3 times I left. If you want to stay hidden, or at least stay with me, just suck it up for a few hours.]

Ryou waited for the response. Finally after 2 minutes, he put his phone down. 5 minutes went by until he heard his phone buzz again. He looked at the text.

[B: Fine]

Typical of him to take so long to give such a simple response. He was about to put his phone down when he heard another buzz.

[B: But you owe me]

Ryou chuckled. Some things never change.


	2. Too much thinking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura is bored in Ryou's apartment. He finds himself thinking back to the past, something he has gotten into the habit of doing. He is not an indoors type of person.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, it took long enough but I finally wrote chapter 2. I'm really not sure how it turned out because I wrote this very randomly in little snippets. It's probably fine.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson

The game night lasted much longer than Bakura thought. Being alone was something he was use to, but boredom wasn't something he could stand for very long, and being stuck inside all day was very boring. He had already explored Ryou's apartment during his time in the ring, so nothing was new. It was always the same, with only rpg games being changed every so often. 

He walked around aimlessly, starting to make a pattern. At first, he would watch TV, trying to forget about the world around him, but the more he watch people in the screen enjoy the outside, the more he wanted to be out there himself. Back in Egypt, the outside was his home. He always knew where he was going, and when he was brought back in the modern world, he began to get familiar with Domino. Every town Ryou would move to, Bakura would trace every surrounding in his head, like a map. Though, back then it was for survival, now it was for familiarity, but the apartment had become too familiar.

Back then, he could find his way around the desert with no help, now he could make his way through the apartment in his sleep, something he had done a few time which scared the shit out of Ryou. 

He had thought about going out, knowing that he could hide in alleyways and dark corners for the most part, but it was still too risky. Not only did he look like his host, possibly causing him trouble, but looking the way he did now, it would be impossible to escape the problems that would be caused from being seen. He opted for staying inside, and only going out at night, still sticking to less public places. 

He sat down, letting his eyes rest for a while. He did a lot of think nowadays, usually about how much he hated this new lifestyle. The only thing that would make life interesting was Ryou, who had started going out with Yugi and the others more often, which included Atem. He wasn't jealous in anyway, in fact, he decided being trapped inside was better than having to deal with them. But still, they got to go everywhere, explore the town, and try new things. He did envy that, and that envy grew stronger once Ryou told him that Kaiba started tagging along. Hell, even Malik started going with the group, dragging along his once evil half, though that's only to keep him out of trouble. Just like the issues of Bakura going around looking like Ryou, Mariku's reckless behavior could get Malik into trouble. 

Anger built up within Bakura. He never asked to be brought back, and he definitely didn't ask to look like a demon, but he would never admit it. Being clear with his feelings had never been something he was good at, even back then, but he never had to be clear. He relied on himself and no one else, but he was completely dependent on Ryou now, he had no choice but to cooperate.

His thoughts ran wild for about 20 minutes until he heard footsteps behind the door. Bakura swiftly and quietly headed back to the bedroom. He could tell it was Ryou from his scent, but he wanted to be as safe as possible, especially now that the others have begun to become suspicious of Ryou's odd behavior lately. 

The door opened slowly and the white haired boy walked in. Ryou closed the door behind him and locked it. A sigh of relief escaped Bakura's mouth as he made his way back to the living room. 

"Thank the gods you're finally back, I didn't think I could stand another minute of this."

"Aw, did you miss me?" Ryou teased.

Bakura just glared.

"The game lasted a lot longer than I thought. Every time a race ended, someone would call for a rematch. It's like they were trying to keep me there longer." Ryou began removing his shoes and coat. Together, they made their way to the couch.

"You're going to have to tell them I'm back. It's already suspicious enough that the other two made it back, I'm sure they know that I must have returned as well. It's only a matter of time before they start to correlate my return and you strange behavior."

Ryou let out an airy chuckle. “Unless you do something dumb, I'll be able to keep you hidden until we find a spell or something to remove all that.” He motioned to Bakura's body. “That or something to just disguise it.”

He spirit sighed, finding the answer incredibly unsatisfying. 

No one had expected Atem or Mariku to return, but they've gotten use to it. However, because of their return, they suspect he would be back as well, but after a few weeks, and him not turning up, their concerns faded. But they were right. Soon after Ryou returned to Domino, Bakura had shown up in his apartment. Though Ryou had asked him several times how he had managed to get there, Bakura never answered. But that concern was very much overshadowed by the fact that the spirit had returned as a demon.

How he had managed to get into his apartment without being spotted was beyond him. How he was able to get anywhere with giant black wings, a tail, claws, and horns was un-fucking-believable. But he was there, and now he was Ryou's problem. Fortunately for him, Bakura really had no plan other than finding a way to get rid of his demon features. He had basically become like a pet, sleeping a lot and watching TV, though Ryou didn't know about his little nightly escapades.

They sat in silence for a while before Ryou spoke again. “Yugi and the others think we should start switching where we have gaming nights, and unfortunately, they think we should have a dnd match here.”

“Well, I don't think I need to explain to you why that's a bad idea.”

“Well, duh. I told them that I can't host them for the time being, but sooner or later they'll ask again.”

“Well, then we should find that spell soon.” 

They got quiet again, listening to the traffic of cars go by outside. Bakura's tail hung lazily over the side of the couch. Ryou messed with a strand of his hair, twisting it up in his fingers. The silence lingered on a bit too long, making everything somewhat awkward. 

Ryou cleared his throat loudly before speaking. “So, do you want to do something now that I'm home?”

“Nah, I'm not in the mood to do anything anymore.”

“So then, what do I owe you.” He made quotations around owe. 

Bakura chuckled, placing his arm over his eyes. “I'll figure that out tomorrow. I wanna sleep.”

“Then let's go.” Ryou stood up slowly, holding his hand out for the spirit, helping him to his feet. 

They walked hand in hand to the bedroom, both of them flopping onto the bed. Ryou quickly fell into a deep sleep, snoring loudly like always. Bakura smiled softly watching his host sleep. He still found it kind of strange to not be a part of him anymore, but now it felt like they were closer together than ever. No more darkness, no more revenge, maybe some spite but that's it.

He wished it could have been like this from the start, but being blinded by so much rage would have never allowed it. He may never admit it, but he liked being able to rely on someone. Aside from Malik, there wasn't many people he had trusted, then or now. Luckily he had Ryou, someone he felt he could easily trust, unfortunately, he felt bad about not letting that trust go both ways.

Bakura silently stood up, walking to the side window. Just like several nights before, he was sneaking out, against his host's wishes of course. He quietly climbed out onto the fire escape. He used his wings to float down to the ground of the empty alleyway. The alleys were always empty. Bakura liked them like that. They had been occasions when someone had been walking around, but normally people stayed out. 

He wandered around a bit, stretching out his wings and body, taking in the cold air. He had been there hundreds of times, but anything was better than the apartment. He dared to move closer to the alley exit, nearing the street.

Not many cars drove around that area in the daytime, let alone night, so he wasn't worried much. If a car or person did approach, hiding before they could see him would be simple.

He looked out at the city. Tall buildings has their lights on, shining brightly through the dark. Small shops were closed, and no one was to be seen. 

As the spirit of the ring, these views only ever impressed him when he first entered the modern world. He never thought he’d be watching them now. He smiled to himself, closing his eyes a feeling the cold wind hit his skin. He felt like he could stay like that forever.

Or for a few seconds before a noticed a car approaching. He opened his eyes a moved back into the alley.

“Guess I should go back now.”

He made his way to the fire escape and the car zoomed passed the building. As he began his ascend, he watched the car drive away in the distance. It looked expensive. Maybe someday he'll be able to steal a car like that. 

He opened the door of the apartment and climbed in. He silently got into bed, moving closer to Ryou, who hadn't moved an inch since he had left. 

After a few minutes, he too found himself in a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bakura likes to snuggle.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson


	3. Catching on

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou is not being as subtle as he thinks, and not everyone is so gullible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this took long, and I know yall been waiting for another chapter. I want to start writing more consistently, but my motivation has been so down. I'm going to force myself to write more, because lack of motivation has nothing on my annoyedness on unfinished projects.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson

Before anyone knew it, it was game night again, and once more everyone found themselves at Yugi's house. 

This time they were playing Portal 2, co-op mode, which seemed to be Yugi and Joey's specialty. As the star co-op team, they soared through the test chambers, finding themselves in sync with one another. After a couple minutes, they switched the controls to the others, letting everyone have a turn, though it didn't really work well when Mariku and Atem were put as a team. Maybe they shouldn't have formed teams by picking from a hat.

Once their turn was over, it was up to Trustan and Ryou to complete the game, and it seemed to be going well for the most part, that is, until Ryou got distracted by his phone every few minutes. Tristan didn't seem to mind, not being very good at the game in the first place. Unfortunately, this meant their turn dragged on longer than anyone else's.

Atem took a seat at the dining room table, next to Kaiba, who did nothing but stare at Ryou. During his turn with Téa, he would look over his shoulder yo the whited haired boy, who was durled up on a bean bag chair in the corner, preoccupied with his phone. After his turned had ended, he took a seat at the table, continuing to watch him. Now he was staring more intensely, glaring every time he picked up his phone to check a text. Kaiba squinted at the screen, as if he was trying to read it. 

Atem chuckled lightly, finding Seto's odd behavior amusing. “What are you doing?” He whispered quietly to Kaiba's ear.

“He's the weird one, right?” He nodded to Ryou, who had just accidentally got Tristan's character killed.

“No weirder than the rest of us.”

“And by that he means yes, Ryou is the weird one.” Malik said, sliding into the seat across from Atem. “What are we talking about?”

“You tell me, you're the one eavesdropping.” Atem smirked, taking a sip of his iced tea. 

Malik gasped dramatically, bringing his hand up to his chest. “I cannot believe the pharaoh would accuse me of such behavior.” He turned away, flipping his hair dramatically before looking back with a smug grin. “But no, seriously, what’s up?”

“Ryou.” Kaiba answered bluntly, still keeping his eyes on the boy. He lowered his voice slightly. “I think everyone knows he's been acting weird, well, weirder than usual.”

Atem scoffed. “That's a pretty bold claim, Ryou's pretty weird.”

Kaiba finally turned away from the boy just to give Atem a deadpan look. “ You know what I mean. Leaving early with a random excuse each time. Not letting anyone visit. He's constantly on his phone every time we hang out. Plus, he seems to always buy extra stuff whenever we got to shopping. It's like he's hiding something.”

Malik rolled his eyes. “We all hide things, why should we care if Ryou wants to keep something secret?” 

“Kaiba's right. It seems like lately he's been trying to distance himself from everyone.” Atem glanced over to the white haired boy, who was now completely immerse in his phone now that the game had ended. “We should ask him.”

“Maybe there's a reason he wants to hide it.” Mariku chuckled as Atem jumped at his sudden appearance behind him. “Maybe he's hiding something dark. Something he doesn't want his friends to know about.” He sat down right next to Atem, knowing full well how uncomfortable the pharaoh was getting.

“I wouldn't doubt that.” Kaiba said, ignoring everything else that was happening. “Last night, while I was getting back to headquarters, I passed by his apartments like I always do, but I saw something.” He glared over to Ryou, who had his phone pulled closely to him, as he didn't want anyone to see what he was texting. 

Kaiba continued. “It was some sort of shadow. Everything was moving fast and it was dark, so I didn't see much, but all i know is that i saw something move, something big. As we drove away, I looked back, and the shadow seemed to be climbing up the fire escape.”

“Well he does like occult stuff.” Malik scratched behind his ear nervously. “But do you think if we asked him about it, he would tell us?”

Atem sighed. “Maybe we should just leave it alone. After all that's happened, I really don't want to get involved in any more crazy magic.”

They all nodded, all except Mariku, who had turned his attention to the white haired boy.   
_____

About 15 minutes had passed when Ryou abruptly left, giving not much of an explanation. This was his 5th time leaving halfway through game night without an excuse, and it was just normal to everyone now, well, almost everyone.

The group had just continued to put in a new game and move on with the night. As Joey and Kaiba started the first round of Mortal Kombat, Malik stood to refill his drink. 

As he entered the kitchen, Mariku quietly followed him in. Malik paid no attention to him, until Mariku stood beside him, whispering to his other half. “We should follow him.”

Malik froze, he turned to look at his other half slowly. His eyes growing wary.

Mariku grinned, baring his teeth menacingly. “I know you know whatever Ryou is doing is much bigger than the others think, especially after what Kaiba told us. Let's just make up a random excuse and…”

Malik placed a finger to the other's lips, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “Stop, I'm in.”

“Really?”

“I was thinking the same thing right as he left. He's hiding something big and I want in.” 

Mariku smirked. No matter how much Yugi and his friendship posse tried, Malik was always going to the same asshole that he was back in battle city. “Alright then, lead the way.”

“My pleasure.” He walked back to the living room, and tapped on Yugi's shoulder, who was currently watching Téa obliterate Tristan's fighter without any effort. “Hey, we just got a text from Ishizu, she wants us to help her with something, so we're going to leave.”

Yugi looked at him innocently. Gods he was too easy to trick. “Oh, okay. It's late so be careful.” He gave the two a soft smile and waved them goodbye.

“Will do.”   
_____

“They're so gullible.” Mariku scoffed as they got outside. “No wonder most of them aren't even concerned about Ryou. They probably haven't noticed anything wrong.”

Malik chuckled. “Whatever, let's just go a find out what's going on.” He kicked the stand of his motorcycle, tossing a helmet to Mariku before the mounted it. He sat there, gripping the handles tightly before letting out a deep breath. “I really hope he hasn't done anything stupid.”

“I thought you also wanted to find out what he's doing?”

“I do, but if it's something dumb then we'll have to deal with it too.”

Mariku's smile faded, groaning as he dropped his head onto Malik's back. “It better not be dumb, this is the only interesting thing happening.”

Malik let out a dry laugh. “Okay, hold on tight.” He kick his feet off the ground and took off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Maliks are like Sherlock or Batman tbh. Well actually it's more like everyone else is unable to read people.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson


	4. My Pet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou gets an unexpected visit at the worst possible time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I have nothing much to say other than that.

“I'm home!” 

Ryou slowly opened the door of the apartment, giving Bakura enough time to know it's him. As he closed the door behind him, the spirit emerged from the bedroom, his unkempt hair a clear sign that he was asleep. 

“Ugh, what time is it?”

“It's barely 8.” Ryou chuckled as Bakura yawned deeply. “Why'd you want me to leave early if you were going to be asleep anyways.”

“I was bored.”

“You were bored of sleeping?”

“Yes,” Bakura spoke completely emotionless. He really did get bored of everything.

“Well, if you're so bored, maybe I'll repay you some other day.”

Bakura immediately perked up, his tail wagging instinctively. “No, I'm awake! I'm good!”

Ryou rolled his eyes, snorting at him. 

“How did you manage to almost destroy the world?” He dropped his jacket onto the table, running his fingers through his hair as he sighed. “Okay, so what do you want?”

“Oh come now, you know what I want.”

“Ugh, I was hoping you wouldn't be predictable this time.”

“Well too bad. Let's go.”

Ryou groaned loudly. “Why can't you just do it yourself?”

“It's not my fault my wings are so big that I can wash them on my own.”

“...Fine.”  
______

“Do you even know what apartment he lives in?”

Malik gritted his teeth, finding it harder and harder to not want to punch Mariku in the face. “Yes, I do. Stop asking questions.”

Mariku huffed. “Will he even be home?”

“I swear if you don't shut up,” Malik grumbled under his breath. He may not be evil, but Mariku is annoying as ever. 

It only took them about 2 minutes to make their way to Ryou's apartment after getting off the elevator, and yet at least 13 questions were asked during that time. Malik showed a lot of restraint not giving Mariku a black eye.

At least they finally made it. Nothing could possibly make this night worse.  
______

“This is the worst.”

Ryou grumbled as Bakura stuck his tongue out at him. They sat comfortably in the bathroom as Bakura tried washing his left wing while Ryou washed the right. The relaxed as calming music played on Ryou's phone on the sink counter. 

He may have complained about it, but Ryou actually loved this. It was something he couldn't have dreamt about when he was just the holder of the ring. He had always envied Yugi's relationship with Atem, and now he had it. A relationship with his spirit. It wasn't perfect, Bakura was annoying as hell, but it was hard to blame him. Not even Ryou could stand being trapped inside all day.

“You're purring again,” Ryou spoke quietly.

Bakura continued purring. “No I'm not.” 

He didn't stop. In fact, he got louder.

“What did you guys play today?”

“Portal.”

“Hmm.” Bakura shifted slightly, moving his tail around through the water. “Co-op?”

“Yup.”

“With who?”

“Tristan.”

Bakura hummed again, reaching as far as he can on his wing, which wasn't very far. They sat in silence listening to the music and Bakura's light purring. Ryou started quietly humming along to the music, feeling very at ease, that was until Bakura splashed water at him with his tail.

“Bakura, what the hell!”

He could hear the other boy cackling as he used his forearm to wipe the water out of his face. No way was Ryou going to let him get away with that everytime they did this. 

He took the bottle of shampoo and poured it all over Bakura's head. Maybe a waste of money but come on, when is messing with Bakura a waste?

“What the fuck!” He started spitting soap into the water. “Ugh, it got into my mouth.”

Ryou giggled, continuing to wash his wing. Bakura dipped his head into the water, washing out the shampoo. It was back to being quiet…

… until they heard knocking.

“Who the hell is that?” Bakura asked, getting noticeably tense. Being a demon looking person, it's understandable.

“I don't know. Hold on, I'll be right back hopefully.” Ryou stood, drying off his hands and making his way to the living room. The knocking started again.

“I'm coming!” 

He looked into the peering hole and almost cursed when he saw the two boys standing there. He opened the door a little too roughly, not doing a good job at hiding his nervous expression.

“Malik. Mariku. What are you two doing here!” He spoke loudly in a way for Bakura to hear. Hopefully he'll be smart enough to lock the bathroom door just in case.

“Hey Ryou, what are you up to?”

“Me, up to something? No, I'm just here… by myself… doing things.” He cursed himself at making this so suspicious. Why is he suddenly bad at lying? He blamed it on being the first time someone has visited since Bakura came back.

“Oh, well if you're all alone, maybe we can keep you company.”

Fuck…

“You left really early, like you needed to be somewhere.”

FUCK…

“But you're just here by yourself, soaking wet?”

FUCK!!!!

Ryou looked down to his clothes, and sure enough, they were completely wet. Damn that bath. 

“Oh, um, I was trying to make… food.”

Malik raised his eyebrow, neither of them buying his story.

“You were... cooking?” They both glanced over to the completely unused kitchen.

FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK…

“Yup! Don't want to accidentally burn it! Oh, is that smoke? You should probably go!” 

Ryou pushed them both back outside and slammed the door. He stood there, completely mortified of how badly that turned out but quickly snapped out of it and sprinted to the bathroom. 

He ran straight into the door, cursing to himself before trying to open the door. It seemed Bakura did head him earlier, as the door was locked.

“Bakura, it's me, they're gone.”

Slowly but surely, he heard the clock of the lock and the sound of someone getting to the water. He walked in, closing the door behind him and leaning against it. Bakura stared at his sweaty red face, with a look that showed he was suppressing his laughter.

“That was horrible. What the hell happened to you? Cooking?”

“Shut up, it was sudden and I didn't know what to do or say.”

“Well that's obvious.” He chuckled a bit, sitting back against his now folded wings. “You could have just said you had a pet. Then it would give you a reason for having to leave so often and why you're wet. Could have just said you were giving your pet a bath.”

“Well, then it wouldn't exactly be lying, you basically are a giant animal.” 

Ryou sat back down on the edge of the tub, running his hand through Bakura's wet hair. Bakura looked up at him, a soft smile on his face as he leaned into the touch. 

A sweet moment that was swiftly ruined when the bathroom door burst open a Ryou plunged Bakura's head under the water.

Malik and Mariku stood at the door way.

“What are you doing?” Mariku asked, staring at what seems to be Ryou drowning something.

“...Nothing, just… giving my pet a bath..”

“Your pet?”

Before he could respond, a scaley black tail emerged from the water and wrapped around Ryou's waist, pulling him down into the water.

“WHAT THE FUCK!?” Both boys yelled.

Bakura coughed, hitting his chest to get the water out of his lungs. Ryou's head quickly appeared above the water as well, looking incredibly pissed.

“Bakura, what the hell!”

“What do you mean ‘what the hell’? You're the one who tried to drown me!” Bakura yelled back, then shaking the water off of him like a dog. 

“Okay, what the fuck is going on here!?” Malik said in disbelief.

They had completely forgotten about their guests. Unfortunately, they was no way to cover this up now.

Ryou nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Well, it turns out that you and Atem weren't the only ones who returned. It seems Bakura had somehow found his way here, but um, as you see, he isn't really fit for being in public.”

Bakura stuck his tongue out at Ryou, earning him a splash of water in his face.

“Okay, so you've been hiding him.”

“Well, I can't have him wandering about, looking like a demonic version of me.”

Malik and Mariku shared a look. This was better than either of them were expecting.

“Please don't tell the others. Bakura and I have been trying to find some sort of spell that could remove his demon features, or at least, temporarily hide them.” Ryou pleaded.

A spell caught their attention. If there's one thing that they knew about, it was magic.

“Maybe we can help you.” Malik said.

“What?”

Mariku rolled his eyes. “It's getting boring having to deal with Yugi and the others.”

“This seems a lot more interesting that game night. Besides, how much progress have you guys actually made?”

“We haven't exactly found anything that could completely remove this,” Bakura said, gesturing to himself, “but I think I could possibly hide these features if I had my ring.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, but it's not exactly easy to find spells specifically meant for removing the look of a demon. It's the only idea we have, everything else has led to nothing.”

Malik huffed. “We can get it for you.”

Bakura and Ryou eyed them both suspiciously.

“Why do you want to help us?” Ryou asked. It wasn't that he didn't trust them, but neither of them were really known for doing things for others unless there was something in it for them.

“No reason, we're just bored.” Mariku said, a mischievous smile painted his face.

Well, that's not suspicious at all.

Ryou glared at them, looking to Bakura for a decision, but got nothing but his usual deadpan. He figured the choice landed on him.

“Fine, you can help. Go wait in the living room for us while we clean up.”

The two left, closing the door behind them. 

This was going to be an interesting team up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ryou and Bakura don't trust Malik and Mariku at all. Little do they know that they actually are doing this because they actually are bored.


	5. Update

Okay, I'm very sorry to anyone who's been reading this. I know it's been a while since I updated, but I've been really unmotivated for a long time now. It's been hard for me to continue these fics, but I still am going to. I'll finish them but I'll probably create a writing schedule to keep on track on this. If it has to be a sentence a day, then so be it. I really want to finish this and my other fics. My brain just likes shutting off on me every once in a while lol. Anyways, next chapter should be up in like a minute. Again, sorry mates.


	6. Stolen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Be gay, do crime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this feels a bit half assed. It kinda is. I had moments I wanted to write planned out for a long time, so I didnt really think much about the middle parts even if I knew the basic plot. Oh well.

“So like, are we not going to ask what the hell they were doing?” Mariku asked, leaning back into the couch.

“You know, I don't want to know.” Malik said.

They had been waiting in the living room for about 6 minutes, before Ryou appeared at the doorway.

“Bakura will be out in a few minutes. I guess we should get started then.”

Malik sat up. “Right, so how sure are you two that the right could help in any way? In any case, the Millennium items should even hold any magic anymore. Have you tried any other solution? ”

“We’ve gone through several tests but nothing seemed to work. Bakura seems certain that the ring will work, probably because of the connection he had with it. As for the lack of magic, he also thinks that there's still some power felt in the items.”

“So you're basically betting everything on his hunch?”

“No.” They turned to see Bakura at the doorway were Ryou was a while ago. He walked over to the couch. “I can still feel the energy of the ring. It's like its calling to me, so must still have magic. I can't be sure what will happen once I get it, but it's better than looking elsewhere.”

“Well, you're not wrong. So how should we start?” Malik said.

Ryou glanced over to Bakura, and with a nod, stood up to go back to the bedroom, only to return with a notebook.

“Okay, here's our plan.”  
______

About 2 hours passed of back and forth banter, and occasional goofing off, before the four could finalize a course of action. Mainly Malik and Ryou, Bakura and Mariku were too busy raiding the fridge.

“Do you think this could work?” Ryou asked. 

“Ishizu probably won't give us the ring without knowing why we want it, and if we tell her why, she'll definitely won't give it to us.” Malik said, running his fingers through his hair.

No matter how simple it looked on paper, it was going to be difficult to perform.

The plan was: Convince Ishizu to let Malik have the ring, which was currently sitting behind a glass case in the domino museum. After the ceremonial duel, an excavation was funded to find the lost millennium items. Now all of them were in the museum. If they could somehow get it, then the rest should be easy. Just get the ring to Bakura and that's it, wait to see if it works.

______

Approximately 2 weeks passed until Ryou got a message from Malik again. Lying in Bed with Bakura next to him, Ryou scrolled through his phone, trying to find any reason to stay awake, which was getting harder and harder with how warm Bakura was by his side.

Ryou’s eyes felt heavy, he knew it wouldn't be long before his body gave in. The quietness and heat was unbearable. He blinked the sleep away slowly, and then slower and slower until he eventually couldn't keep his eyes open.

He fell into a light sleep for what felt like hours but turned out to be only a few minutes when his phone received a text.

His eyes opened to a bright screen displaying a notification from Malik. He sat up slowly, careful trying not to wake Bakura up, though it was no use when he shifted a bit and let out a long yawn.

“What happened?” He asked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“I got a text from Malik.” Ryou read the text, squinting at the light. “He says to open the front door.”

“Oh.”

Ryou moved the blanket off him, shivering at the cool breeze that hit his bare arms. He stood and stretched his arms over his head , lowering them once he felt content. 

“Stay here until I say so.”

“Whatever you say, babe.”

“Don't call me that in front of them.” Ryou chuckled at the name.

Bakura scoffed, rolling over on the bed until his feet went over the edge. Ryou walked out of the room over to the door. Upon opening revealed the two Egyptian boys, looking as if they had been having the time of their lives.

“What happened to you two?” Ryou asked.

“We stole the ring!” Mariku practically screamed, forcing Malik to clasp his hand quickly over his other hall's mouth, though the smirk on his face clearly gave away that he had found the little adventure quite exciting as well. 

“Shut up, we don't want the entire building to find out.”

Mariku yanked the hand off of him, still smiling.

“Don't act like you didn't have fun either.”

“Okay, just come inside already,” Ryou said, opening the door wider. “We can talk more in here.”

Malik walked in first, sticking his tongue out at the other. He suppressed a chuckle when he heard a deep growl from behind him. Ryou could only roll his eyes before shutting the door after Mariku trotted in. 

The two sat on the couch when Bakura was already waiting, wrapped in the blanket from the bed. Ryou decided to sit next to the former spirit to share the blanket.

“Alright, so let me get this straight. You stole the ring instead of trying to talk to your sister?” 

Malik sighed heavily.

“We tried, but she immediately said no and said to not even try asking again. And when Ishizu says no, it means no.”

So… plan B was to steal it? Nice, that would have been my plan A.” Bakura said, earning an elbow to the side from Ryou. He groaned, throwing a dirty look at his host. He looked away dramatically and and stood up. “I'm getting some food.”

Mariku perked up a bit. “Ooh, I'm coming too!”

While the two raided the fridge, again, Malik told Ryou about their little escapade. 

“We replaced the real ring with a replica, similar to the one I had Rishid use in Battle City. No one should tell the difference unless they try breaking it.”

“Now all we need is for the ring to actually work. We looked through every other solution, this is basically our last resort.” 

Bakura glanced over to the living room, the mention of Battle City causing memories to flood to his mind. Memories of himself and Malik. For better or worse, they made a great team back then. And for as hard as he tried to deny it, it was the first mutual partnership he had ever been in. 

“Whatcha thinking about?” Mariku asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. He focused his attention to the man in front of him, currently stuffing his face with handfuls of cereal straight from the box. 

“Huh, You're all so weird. Malik use to be a crime boss and now he goes to game nights. Ryou is helping the guy who use to torment him for years. You use to be intimidating and now you're eating all the marshmallows from the Lucky Charms. Crazy to see how much has changed. By the way, you better not eat all the fucking marshmallows, we just got that box.”

He chuckled, snatching the box from the other's hands shoveling a handful of cereal into his mouth. He frowned a but when he realized there was no marshmallows in it, earning a smug look from Mariku. 

“I'll be taking that.” He said, taking the box once more. Bakura glared at him, but then slowly put on a smile before holding the Millennium ring up to his face.

“And I'll be taking this.”

The expression Mariku made was more than enough to satisfy the former spirit as he held the ring close to his chest, already feeling a sense of familiarity at the touch. In that moment, he was completely certain it would work.

“Hey, you okay? You been quiet for about a minute.” 

Mariku poked at his cheek, earning a huff and a smile. 

“I'm Fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, nod to tender, thief, and trash shipping. I really want to incorporate all the conspire ships, though it's like tender is gonna be the center since Bakura lives with Ryou. Maybe one day I'll write a fic for my fav ship(trash).


	7. Jeez Mariku, y ur mum let u have 2 bfs?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some cheesey stuff happens. I'm not in the mood to write a summary, just read it.

The ring felt cold on his skin, but comfortable. A feeling he wasn't sure he was ever going to feel again. If it couldn't help him, at least it was something familiar to make him feel better about being locked up. Not like that was unusual for him.

He pulled the cord over his head, slowly resting the gold onto his chest, feeling a tingle go down his spine. It was exactly like he remembered.

“So how are you going to get it to fix you?” Mariku asked, shoveling more cereal into his mouth.

“We're going to enchant it, we tried with other items, but this is different. I was bonded to the ring for so long.”

“Hm, makes sense. Sometimes Malik and I feel each others’ pain.” He pinched his arm and chuckled when Malik yelped from the living room.

“Fuck off you parasite!”

Bakura snorted, looking out into the living room. He watched as Malik pinched his arm back, causing Mariku to drop the box of cereal. Luckily, Bakura was able to catch it with his tail before it spilled on the floor.Snatching it back from his tail, Mariku continued devouring the cereal.

“So what spell are you gonna use?” 

“Hell if I know,” Bakura snorted. “That's Ryou's area of expertise.”

______

Ryou continued flipping through several pages of a large book. Malik searched through a different book, still rubbing the area he had pinched. 

“So, what are you going to do once we fix him?” Malik asked, pushing the book aside to grab a different one. “Is he going to just leave, or is he going to stay here with you?”

Ryou paused, fiddling with the corner of a page. Clearly this wasn't his first time thinking about it. He knew eventually they'd go their separate ways, but after spending so much time together, he wasn't sure he wanted to see the former spirit go. It just wouldn't be the same.

“I'm… not sure. It's up to him honestly. I can't force him to stay here, and the reason we're doing this spell is so he doesn't have to rely on me anymore.”

Malik watched him tentatively, noting how it was a difficult topic for the white haired boy.

“Bakura has lived in the modern world long enough to know how it works. He'd be completely fine on his own, albeit a bit reckless, but hell, so am I.”

“I can't speak for you, but I know I wouldn't want my other half walking around on his own looking like me.” Malik said. “He'll do some dumb shit and I would get in trouble for it.”

“I heard that!” Mariku yelled from the kitchen, followed by laughing from Bakura.

“You we suppose to!” He yelled back. “Anyways, have you asked him about it?”

“Yeah, and it seems he's just as confused as me. Maybe after the spell he'll make up his mind.”

______

After a long day of reading, and forcing Mariku and Bakura to read, the other two went back home.

Ryou prepared for bed, braiding his hair back and changing into his sleepwear, he climbed into bed. A few minutes later, Bakura climbed in after him, snuggling up closely until his head rested on Ryou's chest. 

Both their breaths came out soft in the quiet room, neither closing their eyes yet. The moonlight seeping through the window highlighted pale skin and dark wings. 

Ryou played with Bakura's longer hair, then moving down to intertwine their hands. Bakura couldn't stand the silence much more.

“When I become normal, if the spell even works, I'll be free to go right?” he asked, curling his tail around his leg.

Ryou let out a small hum, squeezing his hand around the other's. Bakura squeezed back.

“And if I don't want to go, I won't have to right?”

“What kind of stupid question is that?” Ryou giggled. “Of course you can stay, but I'm not going to choose for you.”

Bakura pushed himself onto his elbows, moving his face closer to Ryou's as he caressed his face with one of his hands.

“I think we both know what I want.”

Ryou smiled, lifting his arms to grip Bakura's horns, pulling him down so their lips touch. It was a soft kiss, something both have them had grown to love. 

Bakura moved his hand down from Ryou's face to his hips. They stayed like that for what felt like forever, but eventually pulled away. Lying back down as if nothing had happened, Bakura pulled the blanket over them both. 

From then on, everything felt still as they fell asleep, that was until the sound of their door opening alerted them, but they made no effort to get up.

The door creaked open, and the tapping of footsteps finally annoyed Bakura enough to make him throw a pillow to whatever was making noise.

“Fuck off, Malik,” he grumbled tiredly. 

Malik laughed, launching the pillow back and sitting at the edge of the bed.

“How'd you know it was me?”

“Smell… and I can hear Mariku raiding the kitchen again.” He yawned, his wings fluttering slightly to stretch. “Now, because you apparently didn't hear me the first time, fuck off.”

“Both of you, shut the fuck up!” Ryou yelled, covering his face with the pillow that had been tossed around. Bakura sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Finally making eye contact with Malik, he stuck his snake-like tongue out at him, earning an eye roll from the other.

Malik stood, walking over to the door, and making a gesture for Bakura to follow him. The former spirit groaned, looking over to the boy next to him, then carefully getting out of bed, even though Ryou was already awake. 

Making their way to the kitchen, Bakura began to heat some water on the stove, paying no mind to Mariku who took to eating an entire box of pop tarts. Malik sat down at the dining table, looking through a book he had left half way read from the previous day.

“I take it you guys are going to stay together?” Malik asked, not looking up from his book. Bakura glanced at him, then focused his eyes to the floor.

“I lost all my people as a child, and for over 3,000 years, the only thing I had with me was Zorc, that was, until Ryou came around. I can easily survive on my own, but I don't want to just survive anymore. I want to live, and I can't imagine my life without him.” 

When he looked up again, both boys were staring at him incredulously. He kept his face expressionless, simply moving over to the now boiling water to make some tea. From behind him, he could hear pop tarts being eaten again, though much slower, and the pages of a book being turned. Finally, Malik cleared his throat a bit to speak.

“Well… that was unusually sweet and cheesey of you.”

“Yes, I know,” Bakura chuckled. “Apparently I'm like that in the morning.”

“Damn, we should start spending the night then.” Mariku said, taking another bite. “Hey, Malik, why don't you say things like that about me when we wake up?”

Malik rolled his eyes, going back to reading his book, ignoring Mariku's huff of annoyance. Bakura sighed, snatching the pop tarts away from him and handing him a cup of tea. 

“You want me to say nice things to you instead?” Bakura asked, sipping from his own cup.

Mariku said nothing, just nodding yes eagerly. Bakura laughed again, ruffling his hair a bit.

“Good, you're our boyfriend now.”

“Wait what?” He asked, then looking over to where Ryou had entered the kitchen. 

“Ryou, Mariku's our boyfriend now.” Bakura said, pouring some tea for the still sleepy boy. He let out a simple “okay” before downing all his tea in one big gulp. Then he calmly walked over to a still stunned Mariku and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. Bakura saw and did the same, causing Mariku to let out a small squeal.

Malik just watched from the table, completely confused as to what just happened. 

“I like this.” Mariku said, trying not to spill his tea over the floor.

“Okay, but what the hell is this exactly?” Malik asked, still confused. “What the ever loving fuck just happened?”

“I got boyfriends and you don't!” 

Malik clearly was not amused, not even humoring his other half even a bit. “You people are weird.”

“Oh, so you don't want to join?” Bakura asked, his tail wagging behind him. Malik laughed, instantly standing to his feet.

“Of course I fucking do, make room, assholes!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ha, gay.


	8. Trial and Error

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several spells later, and not much to gain... maybe

Looking over all the books they had, about 4 of them had some sort of enchantment that could possibly work. 2 of them didn't require much to perform, though the other 2 that required human sacrifice were already set aside. The only problem was that they were completely worthless.

Both of the "concealment spells" would turn the user invisible. They were technically doing their job, but that wasn't exactly what they needed, and understandably, a spell for making a demon-human hybrid look completely human weren't common. Demon-human hybrids weren't exactly common either. 

"This shit's never gonna work," Malik said, tossing the large book aside that had one of the two milder spells. "None of these will work since they'll just completely conceal you."

"Fuck, I know." 

Bakura slouched into the couch, picking up the book with one of the sacrificial spells and reading it over again. They weren't going to use it, since Ryou said "murder is bad" but it never hurt to think about.

"Put the murder book down," he said, having easily noticed him picking it up.

After setting it aside, Bakura toyed with the ring around his neck again. At least it still felt good, the sensation of the object. It was easily picking up the spells, having been a strong attractor of magic, but of course without the right spell it wouldn't matter.

"Hey," he heard Mariku say beside him. He pushed a book over towards him, pointing to the open page. "Try this spell."

Bakura eyed it, a ghost spell, one that would make him pass through objects. He looked back at the blond haired boy, confusion set in his eyes.

"How will this help?"

"Well, even when you were invisible, your tail and stuff were still physical right?"

Ryou looked up from his pages, a heavy sigh left him.

"That won't work, he'll still be visible. Maybe you can just go invisible, then you'll be able to go outside."

"And I will have to make sure no one finds out I'm there. Yup, sounds great. I'll be hiding again." Bakura sighed. He let one of the spikes prick his finger, a small bead of blood forming at his finger tip. "Not like it'll be any different from the rest of my life."

"Tell me about it," Malik said, a dry chuckle leaving his lips. "Damn, we really did spend most of our lives hiding, huh?"

"Heh, at least you don't have to hide anymore."

He brought his finger up to his lips, licking off the blood with his snake-like tongue. He didn't mind the metallic taste, having accidentally bit himself multiple times with his sharp canine teeth when he first came back to life in this new form. Part of him wished he hadn't had to get use to it.

"It's late, you two should go now," Bakura said, moving over to stretch his arms over his head when a loud knock at the front door startled him. 

The knocked echoed through the room, and just when they thought it was all in their heads, a voice spoke from the other side of the door.

"Pizza delivery!"

Confusion flashed over Bakura's face. He looked over to Ryou, who shared an equally confused face. They both slowly looked back to the two boys sitting cross legged on the ground, both with smug shit-eating grins.

 

"We're going to stay until we find the right spell," Malik said, standing up with his arms resting across his chest. "Whether you like it or not."

Ryou laughed lightly, smiling brightly at Bakura who scoffed with a smile before seeking refuge in the bedroom. 

After paying the delivery man, the four of them relaxed in the kitchen. The stress from earlier was forgotten in favor of cheese and vegetables. A calm chatter started, talking about anything that wasn't magic or spells.

"So he ended up spilling his drink all over Kaiba," Malik finished, having told Bakura about the last time they had watched a movie at Yugi's place and Joey had been scared shitless. "Kaiba paid some to follow Joey around and annoy him for a week."

"Annoy how?" Bakura asked, holding up his pizza with his tail while he dueled with Mariku.

"Annoy by taking his clothes while he's at the gym and replacing his shirt with on that says "Blue Eyes White Dragon is better than Red Eyes Black Dragon." Walking in front of him slowly while he's at the mall. Stupid shit like that."

"I didn't take Kaiba to be the petty type," Mariku said, taking a large bite out of a pizza slice, while placing down another card in defense.

"Yeah right," Ryou scoffed, "Kaiba lives to be petty."

They fell into a long tangent about every stupid thing Kaiba had done since they met him, most of them not even sounding real. Their favorite was about a damn space elevator Kaiba had mentioned at some point. No one believed he would actually make it, obviously they were wrong because of course Kaiba's that extra. Though Ryou thought of himself as Kaiba's friend, he was sure that even Yugi found his antics to be quite extra, especially after buying Domino just for his tournament. Everything else after was just a bonus.

After a while, the match between Bakura and Mariku ended, Bakura taking the victory. It happened so quickly that Mariku didn't even realize he lost. Malik and Ryou had been watching every move the two made, Malik had not anticipated Bakura's winning move as easily as Ryou had, though that's what happens when you share a body with someone for so long.

"You're a lot better at this game then I gave you credit for," Malik said, picking up to read Bakura's winning card. "I kinda took you for an average player."

"Hard to be average when you actually lived when all these battles were real. Hell, I've had to actually face some of the monsters in my own deck."

He looked down pensively to the cards in his hand, thinking back to the fierce battles, most of which were against monsters he had to face through the modern duel monsters game. It never bothered him to see these monsters again when Zorc was still with him, but it seemed to be different now that he was alone.

It didn't go unnoticed by the others when he got quiet. Ryou silently reached over and slowly took the cards from him. Bakura kept his head down, staring at his demon-like hand. A low chuckle escaped through a heavy sigh.

"We really are just four traumatized idiots, aren't we?"

He looked up with a grin, the other three sharing the same smile. It was no wonder that they got along so well. After a moment, Bakura stood, his wings flaring out behind him as he stretched. The wings were much larger than himself, reaching all the way up to the ceiling, just barely grazing the surface.

Though he had felt himself becoming quite proficient at using his tail, he hadn't really gotten the chance to use his wings all that much for obvious reasons. 

"Well, I'm going to sleep now. Feel free to join me."

He walked off, hearing the footsteps behind his as well. They all filed into the bedroom, Mariku immediately flopping onto the bed with a loud thud. It didn't take long for them to get relaxed in the bed, all four of them squished together, Ryou and Mariku in the middle, and Bakura and Malik on either side. 

The moment the lights went out, it was like a blanket of sleep hit the room. It made sense, all those spells did take a lot of energy out of them all. It wouldn't be until noon that they woke the next day. However, something was missing.

Malik woke first to a buzz in his pocket. Having fallen asleep in his clothes, he had forgotten to take his phone out of his pocket.

The insistent buzzing got too annoying as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, moving Ryou's arm from around his waist. As pulled out his phone, blinking at the bright screen, quickly noticing the low battery. He'd have to charge it later, but for now, he looked at the notification that was bothering him.

A text from Ishizu.

He groaned at it. He had told her yesterday that they were going to stay at Ryou's house for the night and return in the morning, but apparently she had forgotten. But, clearly one look at the time at the top of the screen told him otherwise.

-3:45 PM-

It was already noon. 

"Shit!" he yelled louder than intended. He felt Ryou stir next to him, slowly blinking one eye open. He sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"It's already noon. I told Ishizu we'd be back in the morning."

He scrambled out of the bed, grabbing a pillow and hitting it over Mariku's head. The sleeping boy groaned, rolling off the bed and landing with a thump on the ground below.

"Where's Bakura?" Ryou asked, looked around confused. Sure enough, Bakura was nowhere to be seen. Mariku lifted himself off the ground, stretching the back of his head. Bakura had been sleeping on the other side of him last night, but he was completely gone now. Ryou yawned, getting up out of bed and tying his hair back.

"He's probably in the kitchen," he said before moving towards the doorway. 

Malik and Mariku began gathering what they had when Ryou yelled from the living room.

"What the hell!?"

The two left in the room glanced at each other then quickly rushed to the next room. Ryou stood next to the couch, staring down at a sleeping Bakura, sounded by hundreds of scribbled on papers and open spell book, and looking completely human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehehe, cliffhanger :)


	9. Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura figures out the spell alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I literally just updated, but I have sudden creativity and motivation, I dont want to risk it going away, so imma try to write as much a possible before it goes away lol.

-Last night-

Bakura couldn't seem to fall asleep. Though he had been the first to actually get to bed, he was the last to sleep. Staring up at the ceiling, the light from outside only slightly coming in through the window illuminated the golden ring around his neck.

He wasn't sure why he was imagining that the ring was speaking to him, just like it use to so long ago. It told him over and over to cast a spell, but it refused to tell him which one, though that was obvious. His mind was just making it up, the voice in his head, and if he himself didn't know which spell, it was obvious that the ring wouldn't know either.

He couldn't ignore the urge anymore. It was like a chain around his neck, pulling him out of his restlessness and towards the books, as if it was telling him he couldn't sleep until he figured it out.

He sat up carefully, glancing over at the three boys asleep next to him. Ryou was tightly curled up between the two Egyptian boys, his arm resting over Malik's waist. Mariku was snoring loudly, sounding as if he had no filter to keep him quiet. 

Bakura pushed the blanket off of him, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He quietly stepped to the ground, looking back at the three to make sure none of them woke up. They were completely sound asleep. 

He proceeded to the living room, where the several spell book lie neatly in a corner. He grabbed the top book and flipped it open, skimming through different spells, none of them peaking any sort of interest. 

He tossed it aside, grabbing the next book. He began the same routine. Flipping through page after page, past spells that they had tried, and which have failed. 

Nothing would work, nothing was going to fix him, looking at the invisibility spell from earlier. He sighed as he picked up a marker, drawing the ancient symbol of the spell on the back of the ring, and then in an instant, his body became completely invisible.

He tried looking at his hand which was now completely transparent. He could still feel it, feel his hands and his legs, and his demonic features.

His tail wiggled beside him, reminding him that it was still there, just like his horns, wings, and all the other bullshit he was forced to have when he was thrown back into the living world. 

He sighed, wiping away the marker from his ring, instantly become visible again. He went back to the pile of books, flipping through the pages and coming across the spell Mariku had suggested from earlier, a ghost spell.

Drawing the symbol on his ring, he began to pass through the couch, the only thing stopping him from falling through the ground was the slight hovering that the spell offered.

Passing his hand through the book he was reading, he realized his tail was passing through the couch as well. Now it was like it was gone, not completely though, since he could still see it. If only he could just get rid of it…

Though as if a light had been lit within him, Bakura breathed out slowly, not realizing he was holding it. Looking back at the book with the invisibility spell, he reached for it, then remember that he could touch it without his hand passing right through it as if it were a hologram. 

Quickly wiping away the symbol from the ring, he was pushed out of the couch, probably due to some physics he didn't understand. He tore open the book, hastily flipping to the right page, and copying the symbol once more, his body gone once again.

He then proceeded to copy the ghost spell from the book he had left open. 

In all honesty, he should have known it wouldn't be that simple, for when for when the final stroke of the marker was completed, it was as if nothing new was drawn. He wasn't passing through anything, but the invisibility stayed put.

Defeated, he erased both marks, becoming visible and more hopeless than before. He knew that if he could only layer the spells, then he wouldn't need something so specific. Eyeing the rest of the books, he began flipping through them, looking for anything that would allow him to use multiple spells at once. 

He knew a spell like that had to exist. Of course whoever created these spells would want a way to use more than one at a time, considering so many spells seemed to be joint spells. 

And he was right.

It seemed like every book had their very own layering spell. He didn't know if they were any different from each other, but he decided that would be a problem for later. 

Trying out the first one he saw, he paused just as he was about to make the first mark on his ring, looking at the open books with the invisibility and ghost spells. Realizing it would be a pain to have to look for them over and over again, he went back to the bed room.

They were still asleep, completely unaware of everything going on in the living room. He sneaked over to where Ryou's desk was, quickly finding what he needed, a stack of plain paper and a pencil. 

Silently making his way back to the living room, he copied down the spells on the paper. Now he was free to look through every book without losing his place. 

Carefully sketching a layering spell of the ring, he added both the invisibility and ghost spell. 

Just as he added the last stroke, it was as if he no longer existed. Completely gone to the naked eye, and untouchable. A chuckle of relief fell from his mouth. Though it wasn't what he wanted, it was a start. 

He erased it all, flipping through the books once more. He knew he had to be careful. Many in the past had become hungry for power, trying to add so many spells to become god-like, though it wasn't like he hadn't fucked with gods before. 

It would just be another day for him.

But as much as he was experienced with magic, he also wasn't going to be stupid and purposefully be reckless. No matter what people thought of him, he was careful. He knew his limits, though it did seem like he never bothered stopping at those limits.

Having grown up the way he did, being careful was a necessity, but so was being a risk taker. He couldn't just wait around for justice to come to his village, he had to work for it, even if it was dangerous.

He came across an interesting spell. As it was known from the past, people believed, or in this case, knew demons exist, so many spells to repel or locate demons were created. 

In this case, a location spell would come in handy, which is exactly what he was looking at. Said spell would probably pinpoint his demonic features, and if he could do that, perhaps it could make the other spells only affect those body parts.

Tracing the spell onto a sheet of paper, he set the book aside and began marking the ring again. First layering, then locating, invisibility, and…

It didn't work. 

He was completely invisible again. He didn't even have to finish the rest of the process.

He erased again, playing lightly with one of the metal spikes again, though carefully to not cut himself like earlier.

He began to search again. Locating his demonic features wasn't enough. He needed to target them, and it was common for location spells to be used alongside target spells, for healing, harming, and other things like that when a target was out of range for the close range spells.

Similar to the layering, targeting was also easy to find, mostly next to a location spell for joint magic. 

He took one of them, writing it down, then beginning the process once more. Layering, locating, targeting, invisi…

He quickly erased it when a pain shot through his eyes, making everything go dark. When all the marks were gone, he slowly blinked his eyes open, everything coming in blurry before focusing again. 

He didn't understand what happened, but looking down at his ring gave him an unfortunate answer.

The ring had a red glow to it, not coming from the gold itself, but reflecting the red light from somewhere else, and to Bakura's dismay, he knew exactly where.

Looking over to a mirror hanging from the wall on one side for the room, his red, glowing eyes stood out against the complete darkness. If it wasn't for the night vision he had, the red lights would have been the only thing he would have seen, but it wasn't. Instead, he could see the demonic hands, feet, and tongue, things he wouldn't be able to just make invisible without some problem. 

He let out a heavy sigh, flopping down onto the couch, groaning as his entire plan had yet another issue to work out.

Back to the books…

He needed something for protection, something that would allow him to cast the spells without pain, but he would also need a disguise spell, something that would be in place of the features he would lose. 

Both of which were also more common. Of course people wouldn't want to feel pain, and of course they would want to change what they looked like. Humans were always concerned with pain and appearance. He didn't think there was much wrong with that, but spending so long with a dark god easily warped his mind just a bit. Temporary pain was nothing in the long run, and clearly he didn't have much of a good relationship with his own appearance. 

He came across them, protection and appearance. He wrote them down, hoping it would be the end of his search. This time, he took in a deep breath, preparing himself for any pain he might encounter. 

Layering…

Protecting…

Locating…?

He stopped, unsure which order he should place them in. 

He knew layering came first, or no other spell after it, or itself would work. Next had to be protection, he thought. He could just locate and target them… no, that would only protect his demonic features instead of removing them, but he knew casting the protection spell second could just end up protecting him completely as well.

He groaned, knowing this meant he had to locate and target his human features first and protect them, meaning, he needed another pair of location and targeting. Or at least, that's what he thought.

A quick flip through the first spell book, he found something easier. A human protection spell. Another one of those cases of demon paranoia. Several of the spells only retained to human, in case of demonic possession he had to assume.

If it worked as he was hoping, he wouldn't have to use another pair of location and targeting, and a separate protection spell. It was perfect, that was, if it worked. 

Jotting it down, he laid out all the spells he had written on scraps of paper, copying the symbols on the back of the ring again. 

Layering…

Protection…

… He stared at the ring for a second, then at the symbols. If he removed his demonic feature before casting the disguise, his hands would pass through the ring and marker, preventing him from casting the disguise later. It had to come now.

Disguise…

He didn't feel much different. Looking down at his hands, they still looked demonic, though his demon hands were bigger than a human hand, so under the claws, his hands should probably look human, which made him pause.

He should have casted disguise before protection, to protect the artificial human features. 

There weren't many moments in his life where he wanted to scream in anger and frustration, now was definitely one of them. The only thing stopping him was knowing his friends [boyfriends technically, but he's awkward af, emotionally constipated, and has never had any partner before :'(] where in the next room, hopefully still asleep.

They already did so much for him, he wanted to at least let them rest. 

Wiping away the marker again, he began to rewrite it.

Layering…

Disguise…

Protection...

Locating…

Targeting…

Invisibility…

He breathed heavily, awaiting pain, but it never came. He let out a relieved sigh, looking at the mirror on the wall again. He almost laughed. He looked completely human again. He had normal hands, normal eyes, no tail, no wings, no anything. He almost forgot about ghosting his demon features when his tail wiggled invisibly next to him. That was the only thing that reminded him of them. He returned to write on the ring.

Ghosting…

Then, it was complete. He still sensed the wings and tail, but they passed through the couch completely, as if they didn't exist to anyone else. Walking up to the mirror, his human hand reached up the pat his now flat head, no horns in the way. He reached his hands behind back, no wings, no tail. 

He was human, almost. 

Permanently removing his demon side would be more work than necessary, and if he was being honest, he liked the features when alone with Ryou. Not to mention Ryou took a liking to them as well, though it made sense considering his love for the occult.

His smile faltered a bit when he looked at the ring. Using a marker to draw the symbols every time he wanted to go out would be a pain, and the marker was easily removable.

He needed something more permanent. 

Like engraving.

It was like there was no end to this. At least he didn't have to go far for engraving tools. Ryou had several kits for his RPGs. Ryou kept them all in a closet in the hallway, opposite to the bathroom. 

Opening the closet, he rummaged through several different campaign books and game boards. Ryou always kept all of the engraving kits on the bottom shelf in the very back. He pulled out a large crate, smaller cardboard boxes were inside, each with a different label.

Wood, clay, and what he was looking for, metal.

He took out the box, opening it and picking out a small tool of which he had no idea what was called. While he liked RPGs, he didn't care much for how they were made. All he knew was that it was like a tiny knife.

He took the box, shoving the crate back into the closet, closing it behind him. He moved back to the couch, erasing the marking, getting back his demon side, then taking off the ring. 

He rubbed his thumb on the golden eye on the front side, feeling a sort of tingle as he did so. Turning it over, be wrote the first symbol in marker again. Searching his memory for Ryou's carving technique, he picked out a tool and pressed it to the gold. 

A chill ran down his spine when the first mark was made. He quickly lifted the tool off the ring, ruffling his wings to get the sensation out of him so he could continue. 

Pressing the tool back to the ring, the chill returned. He now knew there was nothing he could do about it. He would feel it no matter what. We pressed forward, taking 5 minutes to complete the first symbol, making sure to not make any mistakes.

The moment the symbol was complete, the chill became a searing sensation on his chest. Heaving, he lifted his shirt and saw the symbol lightly glowing right were the ring use to lay. It only stayed for a few seconds, before fading out, leaving nothing as if it never happened.

He wanted to take some time to think, but after every passing second, he felt himself grow more and more tired. He shook it off, continuing with the spells.

It had taken about half an hour to complete every symbol. 30 minutes of cold then hot running through his body. 30 minutes of working in silence which he had to admit was more calming than he realized. Only himself and his thoughts. He was normally left alone with his own mind, but instead of feeling trapped, it felt like a relief. The last time he would be forced to only have the voice in his head to communicate with.

The voice that had pushed him for so long, but instead of Zorc, it was himself. It didn't remind him of the past, but pushed him to think of the future. 

And that future was now in reach.

At last the final symbol was engraved, leaving the heat on his chest to let him know. He set down the tool on the table, running his thumb over the ring again, feeling every new indent. He felt his tail curl around his leg as he slowly put the ring back on. 

He felt a shiver, a jolt in his system as the new markings pressed against his chest, exactly where the heat was radiating from, but it wasn't painful. In fact, it felt good, great even.

So good, that he couldn't bring himself to move back to the bedroom. He laid on the couch, finally able to sleep on his back now that his wings were no longer in the way.

He finally felt the drain of the spells on his body, knocking him out almost instantly. No dreams, no nothing. Just silence and darkness. A darkness that was comforting. Not the one he had been so use to, that would choke the life out of him and fill him with mindless hate. It was peaceful.

Very peaceful.

Peaceful to the point that he still didn't wake up when Ryou had found him lying on the couch the next day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, it wasnt 1 spell, it was many. Honestly I hadn't even thought about how I was going to write the spells until last chapter. All I knew from the start was that he was going to use to ring.


	10. Idiot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bakura is an idiot and we all know it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Basically aftermath of Ryou and Co. finding Bakura in the morning

Ryou couldn't believe it. The fucking idiot actually did it. 

He stood in front of the now human-looking Bakura lying unconscious on the couch. The papers and books strewn around the room, and after they cleaned up everything yesterday.

Malik stepped forward, looking over random papers that rested on the coffee table. One look at the symbols on the papers made him turn to look at the ring, the golden necklace around Bakura's neck. 

"These symbols are the spells he somehow carved into the back of the ring," he said, brushing a finger over the metal. The edges of each pattern were sharp, some symbols running deeper in the ring then others. He looked back at the coffee table, picking up a small tool with a sharp point. "This must be how he carved it."

He handed it over to the white haired boy that was currently stacking the books back into the corner. Ryou took the tool and quickly recognized it as his own.

"This is the tool I use for my RPGs, that means…" he moved to his RPG closet. Upon opening it, a few items fell out, some dice and other small trinkets. It angered him a bit, having banned Bakura from messing with his things, but looking back, nothing was really messed up, and it had worked out in the end. Plus, he couldn't stay mad at the idiot for long.

His mind completely snapped when Malik let out a concerned "Holy shit!" from the couch. He was holding Bakura's shirt up, seemingly inspecting his chest. Mariku moved next to his "twin", staring at the other's chest as well, his eyes wide.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ryou asked, approaching the two, then freezing when his eyes landed when they were looking. 

Bakura's chest was bruised. The symbols on his ring were marked in his skin, blackened right over where the ring laid. It was like an ink stain, but none of the ink would come off when Ryou grazed his fingers over the skin. 

And it didn't seem painful. Bakura made no show of discomfort, or even consciousness. He was completely out.

"Is that going to be a problem?" Mariku asked, poking at Bakura's chest.

"Not sure, but we'll figure it out when he wakes up," Ryou said. "For now, we'll wait."

______

~3 days later~

Bakura's eyes slowly cracked open, letting the orange sunlight from outside wash over his face. He was lying in bed, complete unaware of how he had gotten there in the first place.

As he sat up, he noticed the ring was no longer hanging around his neck, but the panic was short lived when he realized it was on the night stand beside him.

As he got up, heat rose to his chest. It wasn't unpleasant, but more uncomfortable than he liked. Pulling up his shirt a bit, he had to suppress a yelp from his throat when he saw the dark blotch on his chest. 

He quickly grabbed the ring and put it on, hoping for the mark to go away just like all his other unique features, but to his disappointment, it didn't. It wasn't such a problem, only meant he had to wear a shirt at all times in public now. He could live with that.

He got out of the bed, feeling a bit dizzy from the sudden movement. He steadied himself when voices were heard in the living room. Each voice was easy to distinguish. 

Walking into the living room, he noticed the three boys before they noticed him. Ryou was in the center, holding a blue switch controller. He always chose blue. Malik had a pink one, most likely having wanted a purple one. Mariku had a green one.

All three of them were completely focused on the TV screen, playing what seemed like an intense match of Mario Kart. He could have gone unnoticed for the entire game, but that would be boring.

He let out a loud cough, drawing everyone's attention, a mistake.

Ryou jumped over the couch, anger seeing from his eyes as he tugged the ring around Bakura's neck harshly.

"Three days! Three fucking days! How do you sleep for three days!? And what the hell were you thinking!"

Bakura had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. It felt as if he were only asleep for 10 minutes. And what did he mean by 'what the hell were you thinking'? He just woke up, he doesn't think that early.

"What the hell are you talking about?" 

That only served to piss the white haired boy off more.

"You! You performed all those spells by yourself! What in the hell possessed you to do something so fucking stupid?"

Bakura's face heated up a bit in embarrassment. It was pretty stupid. 

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I… thought I could just try the whole spell thing on my own?" He gave a goofy grin, raising his arms comically with a shrug. Clearly Ryou wasn't impressed. "And I know it was stupid, but hey, it worked out right?"

Again, Ryou's deadpanned face was not giving him the benefit of the doubt. Luckily for him, Malik and Mariku were a bit more forgiving.

"Hey, let's just play, we need a 4th player," Malik said, resting his hand on Ryou's shoulder. It was enough for the white haired boy to loosen his grip on the ring, then giving one more glaring pout before storming back to the couch. Malik gave Bakura a shrug and followed Ryou to the couch.

After a bit of awkwardly standing still, Mariku and Bakura finally joined the couch party, joining the race.

"So, I was out for three days?"

"Yup." Mariku said, completely plainly.

"Hm."

They ended the conversation there, choosing to only speak again when they screamed profanities at each other during the race.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was thinking of writing more for this chapter, but I didn't feel like it so i didn't.


	11. Hide and Seek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Attempting to take Bakura out of the house back fires, obviously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually never planned any of what's in this chapter when I first started this fic. This is probably one of my favorite chapters somehow.

It was a week after Bakura had enchanted his ring, and since then, it was almost impossible to keep him inside. He wanted to go everywhere, even places he refused to go to when he shared a body with his host. And speaking of his host, Ryou truly found himself close to putting a leash on the former spirit.

Trying to keep up with Bakura was like putting a hyper child in a candy store. He acted as if he hadn't seen anything modern in his entire life. Ryou had to admit, it was kind of cute. 

This person, once a spirit-demon hybrid, was completely entranced with a cotton candy machine. It was almost laughable that he almost destroyed the entire world. 

Almost…

That was something Ryou could never understand about Bakura. Where did all the anger go? Where was all the determination for justice or revenge or whatever he wanted. Bakura never really did explain much of his past.

Even if he was curious, Ryou wouldn't push. As far as he knew, Atem and his family had wronged him. He tried asking Malik, but he knew nothing about Bakura, as if any history about him was erased. Or perhaps, never written in the first place.

He was so busy thinking that he completely lost focus on what he was doing. By the time he remembered where he was, it was too late. Bakura was nowhere to be seen. 

______

Bakura couldn't rest anymore, he had way too much energy to waste it. He had bothered Ryou enough so that he agreed to take him to the mall. He didn't like having an escort, but he guessed it was just fair. He wasn't exactly known for being trustworthy.

That being said, it didn't mean he wouldn't try to get away for a bit. It was just more freeing being able to do things without any strings. While Ryou wasn't strict, he was still watching him like a hawk. It was annoying. 

But Bakura couldn't blame him. Any time the other boy would turn to look away for a second, Bakura's hands would sneak into other people's pockets or purses. He couldn't help it really, it was just habit.

A habit that had kept him alive as a child. 

After just a few minutes, his own pockets felt heavy with loot. He would probably get in trouble later, but it's worth it. He would constantly check to see if Ryou was looking as him.

It was like a pattern. Check, if he was looking, act natural. If he wasn't, steal. Even if he wasn't trying to kill people, he was still a criminal.

It was just the greatest opportunity when he checked his host once more, and realized, Ryou was completely out of it. Off in his own world. Bakura knew he shouldn't try anything. He should behave himself or it would just prove that he couldn't go off on his own, but it was too tempting.

Giving into his bad habits, he walked off, going the opposite direction the two had been walking. He knew it wouldn't be long before Ryou would realize he was gone, so he picked up the pace, turning the corner and leaving his host behind. 

______

Ryou wanted to scream. He knew Bakura couldn't be trusted, and even if the most he would do is steal, he didn't want someone who looked just like him to get in trouble. It was the same reason as to why Malik took Mariku with him everywhere he went.

Dammit, Bakura was so dead when they get home.

He stomped forward, keeping his eye out for anyone with white hair. He made a mental note to buy a leash at the nearest pet store. 

______

Bakura realized that maybe he made a mistake. After a few minutes, walking around the mall with no money was more boring than anything else in the world. Passing by all the shops with much more interesting things than in people's pockets was irritating.

Thankfully, he wasn't completely stupid. All the wallets he stole were completely filled with cash. He struggled to keep a devious grin off his face as he left the mall all together. 

He was a thief, but he also knew that he had no clue who he stole from. He could have just went shopping all care free, but the off chance of someone he stole from seeing him with their wallet could lead to trouble. And while he didn't mind trouble, honestly it only made it more fun, Ryou was already dealing with enough. 

He snuck away to an alleyway near the mall, finding just what he needed. A group of homeless men were surrounding a trash can that was on fire. The perfect thing to destroy evidence.

Moving closer, the men noticed him, but they said nothing. He took out one wallet, taking all the cash and tossing the wallet into the fire.

The men simply watched with wide eyes. One of them almost asked something, when his mouth shut the moment Bakura pulled out another wallet, repeating the process. 

They quickly figured out what he was doing, knowing that they were stolen, but they still did nothing, keeping by the warm fire and just watching the young white haired boy throw away a pile of stolen wallets.

Finally reaching the end of the stack in his left pocket, he began to pull from his right, which earned a laugh from one of the men.

"I see you got busy," the man said, keeping his eyes on Bakura as he continued to add more fuel to the fire. Bakura froze for a second, finally making eye contact with the man that spoke, a smug grin crossing his face.

"You have no idea."

He looked away again, feeling the money stack in his pocket continue to grow.

"That's quite risky kid, what if you get caught?"

That earned a laugh from the former spirit.

"I haven't been caught for years. The only way I'll get caught is if you talk."

Bakura always knew that was a possibility. He could trust himself, but not others. That's what he had learned the hard way so long ago, and from the mischievous grins appearing on the two men's faces, he knew what they were about to try.

"And what if we do?"

They made no movement, probably hoping that Bakura would be struck with fear, but like something so simple could scare him. He simply tossed the last wallet in, and pulled out a large stack of cash, handing it to the men without a second thought, then turning away and leaving the alley way. But not before giving the men one last piece of advice.

"I would hope you wouldn't. It's not nice to sell out your friends."

He never looked back to see the men's reactions, but he did hear a laugh, then a quiet "good kid" from behind him. People were so easy. He himself could not trust, but giving others the hope of a trustful ally was easy, especially when those people were at such a low point. 

It was just a short walk back to the mall.

______

Ryou was going to lose his damn mind. 

He was walking in circles just asking people if they've seen his "twin brother." Obviously, no one said yes. Why would people pay so much attention to a stranger? 

He wanted to just leave, letting Bakura wander around until he realized that Ryou had left, but he really wasn't going to risk it. he just had to push forward.

______

Bakura was having the time of his life. His arms were completely full with bags of different trinkets and useless things he could find in shops. Hopefully he could use some of them as an apology to Ryou. 

He knew sooner or later he would run into his host. His most likey very pissed off host. But hey, when it comes it comes.

______

And it came half an hour later.

Ryou was done. He was angry. He was tired. And he was very very cranky. He was prepared to force Bakura to sleep outside for pulling this shit off. All that had to wait until he actually finds the idiot. But of course life wasn't that forgiving. A familiar voice called out from behind him.

"Hey Ryou!!!"

Yugi…

Just what he needed.

______

Bakura had just about seen everything there was to see in the mall. What was left was a bunch of clothing stores, which wasn't really his style.

In fact, he had been so carried away that he had forgotten to watch where he was going, or who was around him.

______

Ryou took in a deep breath, preparing to not look suspicious to his friends. As he turned around, all the blood in his body turned cold.

"Oh no…"

______

"Hey Ryou!!!" 

Bakura flinched as he heard footsteps behind him. That voice. That goddamn voice. 

Yugi… and from the sounds of it, he's with his damn squad.

"Shit…" Bakura whispered under his breath. 

______

Ryou covered his mouth quickly to avoid gasping loudly as he watched Yugi, Joey, Duke, Tristan, and Téa approach the former spirit, believing it was him.

______

There weren't many times that Bakura's decisions were good, but this might have actually been one that was. The whole "leaving Ryou to steal" wasn't exactly great, but if they had been caught by Yugi and the others together, there would have been no way out of it. 

After a slow breath, Bakura spun around with the kindest smile he could muster. As soon as he did, two things stuck out to him. One, Yugi had his entire squad with him. Two, Ryou was standing a few feet behind them, noticeably moving behind a kiosk stand he was next to. 

Focusing back to the star haired boy, Bakura put his impression of his host on, which was basically just not much considering how gullible Yugi and his friends are.

"Oh, hi Yugi. What are you all doing here?" He wanted to laugh at how nice he sounded. Disgusting. At least the look on their faces still had those stupid smiles. 

"We were just buying some stuff for tonight. You're coming right?" Yugi asked, a hopeful glint in his eyes.

Fuck

Bakura quickly looked up to Ryou, who had a nervous look on his face. Looking back to Yugi, he and the others were sharing a look of both hope, and growing suspicion. 

Damn, he knew that Ryou's constant absence and unusual behavior at the previous game nights was going to catch up to him. Now it was up to him to make a decision on it all.

Saying no would only make them more suspicious, and would only cause both him and Ryou more trouble. 

Saying yes… well he wasn't sure. He had to take that risk.

"Yes, I'll be there tonight."

The suspicion melted away. Idiots. 

"Awesome! So, do you want to shop together?"

FUCK

"No thanks, I was actually just about to leave."

A bit of disappointment slipped onto their faces, but they no longer suspected him for anything, good enough.

"Okay, then see you tonight. By the way, I like the new hair cut."

He pointed to Bakura's hair, which was now much shorter than Ryou's. After being able to get his horns out of the way, he chopped it all off just like he used to do in the past. It was now an undercut with the top a bit longer and messy. 

Good, the focus was on something completely different, no more panic.

Then they started to walk away. Towards… Ryou. FUCKFUCKFUCKFUCK

Panic set in again as he began to sweat non stop as he called back to them.

"Wait! Yugi!"

The turned around, waiting for him to say something, but he just needed a bit more time. Behind them, he saw Ryou again, moving away from the kiosk and into a random clothing store. Good, now they could leave.

"Um, I just wanted to say thanks, for the compliment that is."

Yugi smiled, then left with the others. 

Bakura was finally able to release a breath he didn't even know he was holding. Ryou stalked out of the store, making his way over to Bakura who was panting as if he had run a marathon. 

Once in range, Ryou yanked Bakura by the hand and began to drag him away to the exit. From his tight grip, Bakura could tell he was in trouble. But he already knew that much.

"I can't believe you fucking did that," he whispered harshly. 

"Oh come on, it worked out in the end. Besides," he leaned in closely to the other boy, "I got you some things for your new RPG." 

"That doesn't excuse what you did."

He tried to look angry, but the smirk on his face was clearly giving it away. This was going to be one hell of a trip to remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This just in, Ryou buys a leash...


	12. Game Night pt.2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Last time, on this stupid ass fic, Yugi invited Ryou to their weekly game night, but unbeknownst to him, he actually invited Bakura. What's gonna happen? Read to find out!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Idk why the fuck I wrote the summary like that but okay. I just rewatched Avatar, so I'm was thinking of their whole "previously on avatar" thing they got going. Anyways I AM SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT!!!

Once home, Ryou immediately began to panic. He had to go to the game night, and clearly leaving Bakura alone for more than 5 seconds lead to disaster, that or just a bunch of thievery. Either way, leaving the former spirit alone was out of the question.

It was now or never to tell everyone the truth.

"Come on Ryou! This isn't such a bad thing. It was going to happen sooner or later, might as well do it now and get it over with."

Bakura had been waiting by the door for half an hour already, having been quite calm about the whole situation.

"I can't calm down! We didn't even warn them about it! Malik did before he brought Mariku!"

"Then just text Yugi and tell him, it's that simple," Bakura said, rolling his eyes.

Ryou looked about ready to argue, but then he shut his mouth, thinking about the solution.

"Oh, right."

Bakura laughed, checking the time on his phone before Ryou could say anything else.

"By the way, if we don't leave now, we'll miss our bus and be late."

Once more, Ryou went into panic mode, cursing under his breath and shoving his wallet and phone into his pocket, telling himself to send Yugi a text on the bus ride there.

They rushed to get to their bus in time, having just barely made it before the bus driver took off. Finding a seat in the back, the two boys decided to entertain themselves in their own ways. Bakura took out his phone and started listening to music while Ryou watched the trees pass by the window.

He couldn't help but think about how different the world must have seemed to Bakura, having been born in a time before everything around him existed. Now he could take the bus, not needing to ride a horse everywhere he went, or more excruciating, walk.

Somehow he felt grateful for meeting the spirit. Even if Bakura made his life hell for quite a long time, they've gotten to know each other quite well once Zorc's influence vanished. Now he knew the real Bakura, not the one fueled by hatred. And you know, he liked this side of him.

He moved his hand over to Bakura's intertwining their fingers together as he relaxed in his seat. Any feeling of stress left his system as Bakura gave his hand a gentle squeeze. From there, Ryou knew it would be okay.

Until it wasn't…

______

After stepping off the bus, Ryou led the way down the normal route to Yugi's house, enjoying simply holding hands with Bakura and walking a brisk pace. All felt well, but Ryou couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

Bakura noticed. Ryou had a concerned look written all over his face, looking more like a lost child with every step they took until suddenly halting to a stop, right in front of Yugi's house.

"What's wrong?" Bakura asked.

"I don't know," he said, barely over a whisper. "I feel like I'm forgetting something, but I'm not sure what."

"As long as it doesn't cause us problems while we're here then it shouldn't matter."

Ryou hummed, taking that into account, but he still couldn't shake the feeling away.

"Maybe, but I feel like it was important."

He was about to continue into the door, but Bakura stopped him, placing his hand on the other's chest. He began to think of anything that could have possibly been forgotten that was making Ryou so concerned.

"Let's just list off everything that we were supposed to do. I put on the ring, hid it under my clothes, haven't stolen anything since we were at the mall, kinda proud of myself for that one… um, I haven't done anything to attract negative attention. That's about it."

"Oh," Ryou said, the concern slipping off his features. "Well that seems to be all. I guess I'm just nervous."

Bakura narrowed his eyes, suddenly coming over with a feeling that, for once, he wasn't the one to mess up.

"Perhaps, its seems we did take care of everything we have control over, like oh, I don't know, telling the others I'm coming."

Ryou's face slowly shifted from ease to fear, gasping at the realization that he never did text them.

"Goddamn it!"

"Look, I'll just call and tell him right now." Ryou scrambled through his pocket and pulled out his phone. He began to dial when Bakura grabbed his arm.

"No, I shouldn't just appear like this. They need time to realize that I'm back. I'll just go next week."

"No, you've spent enough time in that apartment, you should be out here, or at least not stuck in there."

He let go of Ryou's arm, but took the phone. "Fine, but let's do this my way."

Ryou stared at Bakura suspiciously when a devious smirk appeared on the other's face. He may not have fangs anymore, but with the look he had, he might as well have.

Without hesitation, Bakura waltzed into the game stop, Ryou following close behind.

Yugi's grandpa was cleaning the glass countertop, looking up when he heard the bell over the door chime. One look at the two and he had confusion written all over him. Ryou meekly smiled behind Bakura, giving a small wave.

Grandpa looked up at Bakura again, who winked at him and brought his finger to his mouth with a "shhh." Ryou was already regretting giving Bakura control over how he reveals himself.

They walked upstairs, Bakura stopping him once more before they made it to the doorway of the living room, leaving them able to everyone inside. Bakura did the same finger gesture to Ryou that he did to grandpa, then coming in closer and whispering into his ear.

"Stay here, I wanna try something."

Before Ryou could protest, Bakura leaned in and pressed a kiss to Ryou's lips. It was a quick peck, but it left Ryou momentarily stunned for Bakura to leave him at the doorway, out of everyone's view.

Upon entering, Bakura was quite impressed. He looked around at all the games and consoles. No matter his feelings towards Yugi and his friends, he had to admit, Yugi had a lot of cool things, and well, he probably wouldn't notice if one or two things go missing.

"Oh Ryou, you're finally here." Bakura turned to see Yugi who was walking out from the kitchen holding drinks. "What took you so long."

Bakura donned his nicest smile and spoke in Ryou's soft and calming voice. "Oh nothing. I just got a bit distracted and lost track of time."

"Oh, okay. Would you like a drink?"

"No thanks."

Yugi smiled back and went to sit on the couch next to Joey who was currently losing a game to Kaiba. Bakura's gaze fell of the Ishtars who watched the entire ordeal go down. Malik rolled his eyes while Mariku tried to suppress his laughter. Bakura put his finger to his mouth and shushed them while trying not to laugh himself.

Match after match happened, and still, Joey was unable to be Kaiba, who had won 18 games in a row. Yugi took the control from Joey, who looked like he was going to snap it in half. Just about everyone had played a match, well, almost everyone.

"Hey Ryou, do you wanna play? You haven't moved from that spot since you've gotten here."

"No thanks," Bakura said, still impersonating his former host. "I don't feel like playing."

Yugi looked skeptical. "But, you love this game. Is everything okay?"

Mariku began to crack, unable to hold in his laughter any longer. He began to chuckle, which caused Malik to laugh as well. Bakura followed suit, starting to find it harder to keep this charade going any longer.

"I'm fine just... absolutely perfect." He began to snicker, until all three of them burst out laughing.

Atem stood up. "Okay, what's going on? You three are hiding something."

"More like us four." Malik spoke through his laughter.

Yugi got up to stand my Atem."What are you... Wait a minute, your not Ryou."

Finally, Bakura let the game end and switched back to his normal voice, attempting to speak. "I can't believe it took you an hour. I guessed it would have probably taken about 10 minutes, but I guess I shouldn't underestimate how gullible you all are."

"What the hell! How are you... Hold on, where's Ryou?" Atem began getting defensive.

Ryou walked in from the hallway, with a face of complete disbelief. "How could you guys not tell us apart? He was doing an awful job at impersonating me."

"Ryou!" Yugi ran up to him, giving him a hug. "What the hell is going on?"

"Oh come now Yugi, don't say that as if you aren't happy to see me," Bakura said, having gained control of his laughing.

Atem took a defensive stance, standing between Bakura and Yugi, who was still clinging onto Ryou like a monkey.

"How are you back?" the once pharaoh gritted out of his teeth.

"Same way as you I assume."

The look of pure contentment on Bakura's face only served to piss Atem off more.

"Hey, wait, if you guys got here the same way, then how come you didn't come back at the same time?" Joey blurted out, vaulting over the couch to stand by Atem.

"Oh, we did, I just stayed hidden."

The two looked about ready to attack the former spirit, anger etched right on their faces. The rest of them looked confused: Duke and Serenity, defensive: Téa and Tristan, or completely uninterested: Mokuba and Kaiba.

Eventually after a bit of intense staring, Atem turned his attention to the two Ishtars.

"You knew, didn't you?"

Mariku shrugged, leaning back in his chair.

"Maybe we did, maybe we didn't."

"We totally did," Malik added, who of which was now just scrolling away on his phone.

Angered with their contentment, Atem turned to Yugi.

"Are we letting him stay or…"

"Oh," Yugi said, finally letting go of Ryou. "I don't know, Ryou? I guess it's up to you?"

"Well, I really don't want to leave him alone, last time I did he fucking stole a bunch of shit."

A gleeful smirk shined over Bakura's face. Ryou was about to get pissed about it when Duke suddenly realized something.

"Hold on, is no one going to acknowledge that _he's_ the one we ran into in the mall?"

For a second everyone quieted down before Yugi erupted in disappointment in himself for somehow not seeing through Bakura's trick.

"God fucking dammit!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop whoop, guess we gotta wait to see what happens later in game night😀

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and construction criticism is much appreciated.
> 
> Tumblr: grapegodperson


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